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02nd April 2015

Energy efficiency, security and comfort:

A quick glance back to see where things are heading: Hager Group showcased the areas its development engineers are currently working on together with partners from the construction, IT and scientific industries at this year’s CeBIT. This research network is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Smart technology for houses and buildings is a future market. Thanks to integrated systems, buildings are not only becoming safer and more comfortable, but also more energy-efficient. According to a representative survey by the high-tech association BITKOM, around 10 million people in Germany already use smart-home applications. Examples of these applications include programmable switches, remote control for household appliances and voice control for electrical devices, as well as assistance systems designed to facilitate comfortable living for the elderly and systems for monitoring energy consumption. Hager Group recognised this trend early and responded by developing a number of solutions which have already been integrated into the company’s product range.

At CeBIT, the world’s biggest IT trade fair (held in Hanover from 16th to 20th March 2015), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy invited the company to showcase the next stage in the development of smart homes: the Guided Autonomic Building (Guided AB) project, an extension of the smart-home concept. (For a detailed description of the project, please see the attachment.) The project is all about linking and networking components and appliances with processing power and storage capacity. Incorporating suitable software allows these systems to execute tasks independently, perform sensory functions and communicate with other smart objects via the internet. The aim is to make building controls individual and efficient by recording and analysing usage patterns with the aid of self-learning mechanisms.

The role of Guided AB here is to function as platform similar to an app store, allowing anyone to load the latest applications and services at any time and offering intuitive operation via smartphone, tablet or PC. Residents can adjust the configuration of their own building controls for the first time without the need for time-consuming, costly reprogramming.

The Guided AB project was presented at CeBIT in Research and Innovation Hall 9 as part of the smart service world focal point. In a special model living room, the project partners demonstrated how anyone can set up and configure a particular environment with the touch of a finger – how users can draw the blinds, start up a television programme, dim the lights and programme a range of other functions that would previously have required them to call a specialist for help. Field tests and consumer tests will be carried out on Guided AB at the end of this year. The end of the testing phase is planned for summer 2016.

Guided AB is a consortium of eight partners. The companies joining Hager Group in the project consortium include well-known service providers from the construction industry and the housing sector, companies from the IT sector and two research institutes from the universities of Saarbrücken and Dortmund. This unique constellation is also acknowledged by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which is supporting the project with funding of several million euros as part of its high-tech initiative Industry 4.0.

“With Guided AB, we are innovatively connecting today’s world with tomorrow’s,” says Johannes Hauck from the Corporate Strategy and Business Development division. “Hager Group doesn’t just talk a lot about innovation, it also puts ideas into practice and keeps on developing them.” But the research idea is not an end itself here. “When products and digital services are combined to create smart services, the existing value-added chains are changed and innovative business models emerge,” says Hauck.

About Hager Group

Hager Group is a leading supplier of solutions and services for electrical installations in residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Our range of solutions and services extends from energy distribution to cable management and from security systems to building automation.As an independent family-owned and family-run company based in Blieskastel, Germany, Hager Group is one of the industry’s innovation leaders. A total of 11,400 employees generate a turnover of approximately 1.9 billion euros. Components and solutions are produced at 23 sites around the globe and are trusted by customers in 120 countries worldwide.